Two disturbing cases of poaching have been reported this month near Bismarck and Mandan. At least two pronghorn were killed in Morton County and Yesterday a bull moose was killed and left for dead near Moffit, southeast of Bismarck.Both cases happened between the opening of the deer gun season and November 18th. The case of the bull moose has many locals there upset. It had recently been seen walking with its mother in the area, which is not open to moose hunting. A moose tag is considered "once in a lifetime" in North Dakota, meaning the chance to legally hunt them is rare. A necropsy--an autopsy on animals--will be done soon. The results should help reveal what caliber weapon or weapons were used.

The shot rang out at 8:45 in the morning on Oct. 25 as Collette Bise fed her animals. The Bise family owns a small farm in Newman Lake, and though the land along McCoy Road is privately owned and liberally posted with No Hunting and No Trespassing signs, gunshots are a familiar sound. “There’s shots continually out here,” Bise said.But this shot worried her. Tibby, the family dog, was off her chain and nowhere in sight. Bise paused in her work and heard her dog yelp. “I heard a second shot and she yelped even louder. Then a third shot. After that – silence. I thought, ‘Oh my god, someone just killed my dog.’ ”Stunned and sickened, she heard a neighbor yelling, “Get off my property!”Bise walked over to her neighbor’s place. He told her he’d heard the shots and yelled, heard someone shout a reply – then nothing. “I walked up and down the road looking for my dog,” she said. “But I was afraid to go too deep into the woods. I spent three hours looking for her and when I couldn’t find her, I knew she was dead.”When her husband, Troy Bise, came home from work that afternoon he went looking for Tibby. He found her on their neighbor’s property lying in a pool of blood, and he found something else – a freshly killed fawn just a few yards away.He’s still shaken by the memory. “My wife or kids could have gone after the dog,” he said. “What if some idiot was hiding in the weeds, shooting at anything that moved?” More....

Source: Tribune242.comBahamian law enforcement officials and their counterparts from the Dominican Republic held a second round of discussions on illegal fishing and other issues. Minister of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage called the outcome of the talks “extremely important” as the Bahamas moves to end illegal poaching in its waters. He said: “We cannot downplay the long-term effects of illegal poaching, as it can lead to a depletion of our country’s marine resources. “The economic impact of indiscriminate poaching can touch the core of our livelihood. We must deal with it at all cost, as it is an aggravating situation that is becoming even more problematic to regulate, particularly with the advanced technologies that are being deployed.” Dr Nottage said law enforcement’s efforts to monitor, capture and hold persons found fishing illegally in Bahamian waters places a strain on the country’s finances and is “very burdensome on our nation’s corrections systems”. “We are, therefore, pleased to embrace the opportunity presented to co-operate on a resolution to this problem, through friendly dialogue and negotiations with the Dominicans,” he said. Dr Nottage said as neighbours, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic have a shared interest in maintaining friendly relations. He said he hopes to see their relationship continue following the dialogue. The National Security Minister said a high-level delegation from the Bahamas, headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and including public and private sector representatives, recently travelled to the Dominican Republic to participate in “very high-level, formal, bilateral talks”. More....

The killing of rhinoceroses has escalated dramatically, especially in South Africa, which is home to 75 percent of the world’s rhino population. The slaughter is being orchestrated by brazen, highly organized gangs that smuggle the rhinos' horns to black markets in China and Southeast Asia.On November 5, Chumlong Lemtongthai, a 43-year-old Thai national, put his tightly scrawled signature to a guilty plea that was submitted to a South African court. As Accused Number 1 in case 143/2011, he admitted to arranging the illegal hunting of 26 rhinoceroses and the export of their horns to a company in Laos. The plea ends on an unassuming note: “I humbly apologize to the court and the people of South Africa for my role in this matter. I appreciate that the emotions of all animal lovers in South Africa are running very high and that I was part of the problem.”

“The problem” required no further explanation for the judge, nor would it for most of his countrymen. Asian buyers, many in China and Vietnam, now pay upward of $50,000 per kilogram for rhino horn, to which they ascribe various powerful healing properties. An international ban on the trade of rhino horn has created skyrocketing demand on the black market, leading criminal poaching and smuggling gangs to descend on South Africa — home to most of the world’s rhino — with horrific results.

In 2007 only 13 rhino were poached in the country, about the average annual number since 1990. In 2008, the number rose sharply to 83, in 2009, to 123, and so on. This year — which isn’t over yet — 585 rhino have been illegally killed in South Africa.

Local news bulletins regularly report macabre discoveries of rhino carcasses with bloody holes carved into their snouts, deadly firefights between game rangers and heavily armed poachers deep in the bush, or the arrest of Asian “tourists” caught leaving the region with suitcases full of horn. Angry citizens have formed pressure groups to lobby government, raise money for rhino protection, and demonstrate noisily outside courthouses where suspected rhino criminals are on trial. More....

Source: CBSnews.comBy M. SanjayanMountain Bull is a six-ton living legend in Kenya. He has evaded poachers many times before. Now hunters are after him again -- for his massive tusks. They chased him for more than an hour. Finally, the Bull broke cover, and there was a clear shot -- not from a bullet, but a drug-filled dart. These hunters were government veterinarians. The magnificent bull elephant has already had lots of interaction with poachers. In one incident alone, he was shot eight times -- the slugs are still in his body. But he has survived. Now conservationists and rangers are doing something dramatic: they're taking off part of his tusks in the hopes it will make him less of a target.It's a controversial move. He's less of a target for poachers but also less able to defend himself against other bull elephants. The tusks will eventually be destroyed by the government. An estimated 25,000 elephants are being killed every year by well-armed African gangs -- some have links to organized crime -- with much of the illegal ivory ending up in China. "It's the worst that it's been in the last 30 years," says conservationist Ian Craig. "It's a steady deterioration, and it's getting worse." Craig co-founded the Northern Rangelands Trust, which receives some funding from the Nature Conservancy. His group helps protect wildlife across three million acres of private land.Craig says that a gunman who kills an elephant with tusks weighing 10 kilograms each would receive about $2,500, or more than five times what an average worker earns in a month. More....

Source: Globalvoicesonline.orgA news report published by the newspaper @Verdade [pt\ at the end of October 2012, unmasks illegal hunting of elephants in the Mareja Reserve, in the Northern region of Mozambique, in Cabo Delgado. According to the article, the “massacre” is perpetrated by groups of “sophisticatedly armed” poachers and has taken on “gigantic proportions”:"Every week at least two animals are shot dead, from whom ivory tips are extracted, which are then sold on the black market. The battle takes place in the eyes of government officials and local police who, for comfort and complicity, do not act." Noise of gunshots is frequently heard and then helicopters or aircrafts are seen flying over the reserve. These serve to load the ivory taken from the animals in danger of extinction, and to facilitate the trafficking of a product that “reaches exorbitant prices on the black market”, and is exported to Asian countries like China, North Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.A comment [pt\ left by Conor Christie through Facebook adds:"I worked for a while at the 4th warren in the Manica province, and we were warned that the hunters come from the Beira region and they come WELL EQUIPPED. We had the equivalent of what the guards of Quirimbas had, and were told not to confront them. People who have access to that kind of weaponry are not peasants. While we were there, we knew that poachers rented AK47 (AKM) from the Save's command. We bought bullets for one thousand Meticais [$33 USD\ each, which indicates that access to arms is easy. In my opinion, people behind those deaths in Quirimbas are people with patency [sic\." Another reader of the newspaper, Kita Chilaule, expressed her indignation [pt\:"I can't believe there aren't any ways to stop these poachers. I think they are not a bigger number than the guards but yes they have the protection of the local government even because it is clear there is complicity and corruption here. The destruction of eco-tourism heritage in this area is regrettable." And she continues [pt\:"Those hunters, the majority are foreigners [and\ cannot have more power of action than the Nationals. I ask whoever owns the rights to stop this practice of wildlife degradation." Included in the Quirimbas National Park [pt\, which occupies an approximate area of 7,506 square kilometres, Mareja's Reserve is surveilled by a group of 10 forest guards precariously equiped to face poaching. More....

Source: Wildlifeextra.comBirds of all shapes and sizes killed in their thousands - Our thanks to the Lebanon Eco Movement for their help with this article.We have been contacted by someone from Lebanon who wants to highlight the terrible situation there, where birds are shot indiscriminately in there thousands. As Lebanon is at the cross roads between Europe, Asia and Africa, many of the birds are killed while migrating to and from their breeding grounds.

Hunting in Lebanon banned in 1995The environmental situation in Lebanon is very chaotic. Hunting was banned by a law issued in 1995, and this law is still in force, though almost totally ignored. A new hunting law was agreed in 2004, but has never been implemeneted. There is no enforcement of this law, and some believe that Lebanon should go back to the pre-1995 situation where hunting was legal, but regulated by season and species. There are, as everywhere, repsonsible hunters too, but the irresponsible shooters are giving Lebanon a terrible reputation.Almost all birds hunted.The fashion is that the hunters seem to boast about their kills, and the bigger, the rarer and the larger the number the better as far as they are concerned.Lebanese Eco MovementThe Lebanese Eco Movement says "All kinds of birds are being hunted, and most of hunters are indifferent to the matter of protected birds. We are witnessing the murder of many protected birds, mainly soaring birds (aquatic birds and raptors), including pelicans, storks, cranes, raptors.""As for the birds that can be hunted, there is no respect for the numbers and limits. We are witnessing birds being killed in thousands. A single hunter may kill more than one thousand birds. Hunters are of all ages; they may be as young as 10, even though Lebanese law prohibits holding weapons for ages less than 18." More (many photos)....

An endangered species of bird grabbed headlines in Chinese media over the past week not because of its elegant beauty, but because 20 died of poisoning in northern China.

Poachers poisoned the wild birds within a wetland nature reserve in North China's Tianjin municipality. Their actions left 20 Oriental white storks dead and 13 others sickened, triggering public outcry for intensified protection of wild animals and harsher punishments for those behind the deaths of the storks. The birds, no more than 3,000 of which remain in the wild worldwide, were stopping at the city's Beidagang Wetland Nature Reserve along their migratory route from Northeast China to central Poyang Lake. Sources with the reserve management committee have confirmed that the birds, as well as other species, were found poisoned on November 11 after an amateur photographer spotted the dead body of a stork. Volunteers and workers from the Tianjin Wild Animal Rescue and Training Center carried out rescue work, retrieving 13 poisoned birds and 20 corpses.White storks are set free after rescue in Tianjin on Nov 21, 2012. Thirteen poisoned white cranes were saved by a wildlife protection institute in Tianjin before they were set free. Another 20 died from the poisoning. [Photo/Asianewsphoto\ Since being treated in the center, the 13 poisoned birds have made complete recoveries and are ready to be released on Wednesday morning, according to Dai Yuanming, director of the center. Dai said the birds have been banded for further tracking and research. More....

Source: Wtae.comThe Pennsylvania Game Commission is searching for a poacher who illegally shot a trophy buck with a small-caliber gun during archery season.Wildlife conservation officer Brian Witherite tells the Daily American of Somerset (http://bit.ly/TVV7Dm ) that the 225-pound deer had a 10-point rack with a 21 1/2 inch spread.The animal was shot in the neck Nov. 2 and its carcass left behind in Black Township, about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.Witherite says the deer's size and rack make it a trophy-class animal, meaning there are substantial penalties for those who are charged with killing it. Witherite hasn't specified the range of those penalties.The game commission is also offering an unspecified monetary reward for information on the poaching.

Cameroon has mobilized its Special Forces units in an effort to prevent Sudanese poachers from entering its territory to hunt elephants for their ivory, in an operation it called "a first of its kind". WWF congratulates the Cameroonian government for taking concrete steps to address poaching and illegal wildlife trade, a lucrative criminal activity that undermines the sovereignty, security and economic prospects of the Central African region.Killed hundreds of elephants in 2012According to information obtained by WWF, this is the same group of poachers that in early 2012 travelled more than 1,000 km on horseback from northern Sudan across the Central African Republic and Chad to kill over 300 elephants in the Bouba N'Djida National Park in northern Cameroon. This information says that the group had decided to return earlier than usual this year in order to take advantage of the greater ground cover available during the rainy season and to catch the park guards by surprise by arriving sooner than expected. Rapid Intervention BattalionOn Friday, high ranking officials of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), Cameroon's special forces, told WWF that the high command had as a priority "the conservation of biodiversity, including the fight against cross-border poaching.""We are committed to avoid a repeat of the elephant massacre of early 2012," a BIR official said. "We are already on the ground, we know the poachers are coming, and we have forces deployed in the reserves. It is highly unfortunate that the military had to be called in to address this situation, but the reality is that we are dealing with well-armed and highly trained individuals, who do not hesitate to terrorize local populations to achieve their aims." More....

With the holiday’s right around the corner, deer hunting season has just begun and with that comes the big problem of, “tis the season for poaching in America.”

When people think of poaching they think of Africa, but in North America, poaching has been a growing problem since 2005.

The Fish and Game department estimate for every species hunted legally, one is killed illegally. In North America poachers kill large numbers of deer, elk, black bear, turkey, moose, antelope, cougar, big horn sheep, mountain goat, pheasants, as well as various species of fish such as walleye, sturgeon and salmon. Since the beginning of regulated hunting, society would tend to look the other way when it came to poachers, because people thought the poachers must be poor and trying to feed their family. There are still some people who will hunt or fish illegally for food, but they are a small fraction of the larger problem.Pennsylvania Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Protection Director Richard Palmer stated, "The causes of poaching vary, but the myth that most poachers are committing their offenses to provide food is in reality not even a fraction of a percentage of all cases prosecuted. Often, modern poaching is done by criminals driving $30,000 vehicles, using expensive night-vision technology, illegal silencers on the firearms, and often military-style rifles.” What is poaching? More....

Cameroon’s Special Forces have been deployed to foil an imminent raid by Sudanese poachers who for eight weeks earlier this year slaughtered half the population of elephants for their ivory at one of the country’s wildlife reserves. The poachers have been attempting to take park guards in northern Cameroon by surprise by exploiting greater ground cover that has sprouted in the rainy season, according to international conservation body World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which said it had been informed by high ranking officials of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) on Friday. "This is the same group of poachers that in early 2012 travelled more than 1,000km on horseback from northern Sudan across the Central African Republic and Chad to kill over 300 elephants in the Bouba N’Djida National Park in northern Cameroon," WWF said. The heavily armed and well coordinated poachers, who had told local villagers of their plans to kill as many elephants as possible, claimed they had killed as much as 650 out of some 1,000 that roamed the park. The elephant population in Cameroon and in central Africa is estimated to have been halved, mainly by poachers, between 1995 and 2007 with the number of elephants killed still on the rise. Last-ditch Wildlife officials say the military operation, said to be the first of its kind in Cameroon, is a last-ditch shot at saving the last herds of the species now in danger of extinction in this part of Africa. More....

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers are seeking information about a Spokane-area spree killing involving at least three deer.

The poaching incident occurred last week near the intersection of Madison and Thorpe Roads near the Painted Hills Golf Course. Three white-tailed deer were shot from the road in a “no-shooting” area at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10, says Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman. Two of the deer were left injured and paralyzed in the field. One of the deer was taken. Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to call the Spokane Regional WDFW Office, (509) 892-1001 and ask for Officer Douglas King. Information can also be called in to the WDFW poaching hotline at 877-933-9847, or texted to TIP411. Persons providing information that leads to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for these poachings may be eligible for a reward and may remain anonymous.

A global phenomenon threatens some of the most endangered animals on the planet. Poaching and illegal trading are targeting dwindling populations of elephants in Africa; majestic big cats such as tigers in Asia; and rhinoceros populations in several parts of the world.China is the No. 1 destination in this illegal trade, where rising incomes are driving a demand for exotic pets, trinkets, traditional medicines and rare foods, with the United States coming in second. But the worldwide trade is so widespread, so pervasive that it's now estimated at up to $20 billion per year, second only to arms and drug smuggling, according to the U.S. Department of State.One of the most critical situations is the slaughter of elephants in Central and Eastern Africa. Poachers are killing tens of thousands of the animals every year, fueling the illegal trade in ivory.In late October, customs officers in Hong Kong confiscated nearly 4 tons of ivory, worth more than $3 million dollars in the biggest such seizure ever. Earlier this summer, authorities fined two men after finding nearly a ton of ivory in jewelry stores in New York City's Diamond District. And in mid-July, customs officers in Bangkok, Thailand, seized more than 150 elephant tusks hidden in crates aboard a flight from Kenya.Thailand is a top transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade. All manner of animals, from lizards and turtles to baby panthers, leopards and tigers have been discovered, even in passengers' checked luggage. Late in October in northern Thailand, police intercepted a driver with 16 tiger cubs in the back seat of his truck. This week, customs officials at a checkpoint seized 600 cobras from a truck transporting them from Malaysia for use in food and traditional medicine. More....

The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife says a teenager is facing deer poaching charges that he and a juvenile shot a 4-point buck at night.

Game Warden Stephen Majeski says he received a report Sunday night from a landowner on Missing Link Road in Springfield that he'd seen a vehicle back into his driveway, illuminating a field on the other side of the road and then heard a gunshot.

Majeski found the dead buck and waited nearby in the woods.

About 20 minutes later he arrested 18-year-old Bruce Wells and the juvenile, both of Rockingham. A deer rifle was seized during the investigation.

If convicted, Wells will be subject to fines and restitution of up to $3,000. He could also lose his hunting license for up to three years.

By Jeremy PawloskiNormally we're uplifted by parents who take their kids hunting. Not this time. No one was injured, physically at least, but a Western Washington hunting incident described by this weekend story in the Olympian might be one of the grimmest stories I've read about parental responsibility and the sport of hunting. Read on. By Jeremy Pawloski The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) Two Olympia men face numerous potential criminal hunting citations after Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers found them apparently illegally hunting with two girls - ages 8 and 10 - one of whom was carrying a loaded shotgun as she rode in the back of a pickup Oct. 14 in Capitol State Forest, court papers state. According to a search warrant affidavit filed in Thurston County Superior Court in connection with the case: Fish and Wildlife officers were dispatched to Capitol Forest on a report of vehicles driving on state Department of Natural Resources land in a road closure area. The officers made contact with several hunters traveling in a pickup. Two adult men and the daughters of one of the men, ages 8 and 10, were contacted. More....

So far this year police in Brazil have rescued almost 14,000 illegally captured wild animals. Poaching, which means illegally taking animals from the wild, is a big problem in the country. The parrot chicks in this video were stolen from their nests. Had they not been found by police they could have ended up in cages to be sold on as pets. The period from September to December is the busiest time for officers, as it's breeding season for macaws and parrots who leave their eggs and young offspring vulnerable to poachers. The parrot chicks are now being fed and cared for at a wildlife centre in Sao Paulo, before hopefully being returned to the wild.

Source: Blog.Africageographic.comBy Ian MichlerJust under 2 weeks ago, the President of Botswana, Lt. Gen. Ian Khama, gave a speech wherein he announced that by the end of 2013, trophy hunting would no longer be allowed in Botswana. Speaking at a local kgotla in Mababe, a village along the edge of the Okavango Delta, he said that “Next year will be the last time anyone is allowed to hunt in Botswana and we have realised that if we do not take care of our animals, we will have a huge problem in terms of tourism.”The decision has been expected for a number of years now, and while there is still uncertainty with regards to the exact details and nature of how this will be implemented, the local press has taken his words as being the end of the road for hunters. It is believed that the ban extends to all ‘citizen hunting’ as well, and covers all species, including elephant other than a small CITES based quota for those designated as ‘problem animals’. While these steps will obviously be unwelcome amongst the hunting fraternity, there is a growing group of ecologists, conservationists and ecotourism operators, as well as large numbers within the general public that will laud the government for their visionary approach. For these people, trophy hunting offers little or no benefit to conservation, and cannot match other forms of ecotourism with regards to its economic, social and educational contributions. It is also regarded as an anachronistic and needless pastime carried out by a privileged few. And in Botswana’s case, the industry has shown an alarming inability to regulate itself, which has meant various operators over the years getting away with unethical or illegal behaviour. There will be no tears shed for some of these people. However, we should not forget that many within both the private and government sectors across this continent still remain enamoured by the lure of trophy hunting, and it’s an industry that is fuelled by a substantial lobby supported and funded by wealthy and influential business and political interests from around the world. It is these factors that have ensured hunting has remained entrenched for a good deal longer than its credentials merit. As a result, the industry will take longer to die in many other countries, but in taking this bold decision Botswana has broken ranks and they must be complimented for this. Expect many of the hunters to head for grounds where their activities are still tolerated – Tanzania, northern Mozambique and Zambia will be the favourite destinations. This will of course bring further pressure on already pressurized wildlife populations with more hunters vying for quota. And the Botswana government should now be monitoring the impacts this decision is likely to have on wildlife breeding and canned hunting practices within areas such as Ghanzi. More....

The Chamois in the Tatras now number over 1,000; thus, it is clear that the population of the Tatra chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica; in Slovak – Kamzík vrchovský tatranský) continues to grow. In 1999 only about 320 chamois, a goat-antelope species, lived in the Tatra mountains, and prior to winter 2005, their number did not exceed 500. According to this year’s autumn census, however, that number has since ballooned to 1,096, Lenka Burdová, of the State Forests of the Tatra National Park (TANAP), informed the TASR newswire. Out of that, 810 were living in the Slovak part of the mountain range and 286 on the Polish side. By the time of the census, 134 young chamois were found grazing in the Slovak Tatras and 43 in the Polish Tatras. A notable feature of this year’s census was the existence of large herds: in the Hlinská valley more than 70 were counted in one herd, while most of the biggest herds were found in Belianske Tatry. “The viability of the chamois population is evaluated by the size of individual herds, not just by the total number of the population,” TANAP zoologist Jozef Hybler told the SITA newswire. “In general, the bigger the herds, the more viable the whole population is. Seeing such a big herd is not a rarity, but it is not very common, either. That said, the existence of such a big herd is a good sign that this rare native sub-species typical of the Tatras is faring well these days,” he concluded. More....

Remote camera traps, which take photos or video when a sensor is triggered, have been increasingly used to document rare and shy wildlife, but now conservationists are taking the technology one step further: detecting poachers. Already, camera traps set up for wildlife have captured images of park trespassers and poachers worldwide, but for the first time conservationists are setting camera traps with the specific goal of tracking illegal activity.

Dubbed the "Forest Eyes" project, scientists with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have installed and camouflaged 30 camera traps in two Russian far east protected areas: Lazovsky Nature Reserve and Zov Tigra National Park. The group hopes the camera traps will help to shed new light on trespassers in the parks, home to at most twenty Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica).

"The images from camera traps set up for humans will better inform us of any illegal activity in protected areas, so inspectors can be notified and patrols changed accordingly." explains ZSL tiger conservationist Linda Kerley in a press release. "We will be able to monitor the area more effectively and ensure we are doing all we can to try and change people’s attitudes and behaviors towards poaching."

Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, are down to around 360 animals and listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. While the subspecies is imperiled by habitat loss, prey decline, low genetic diversity, and human-tiger conflict, poaching for traditional Chinese medicine remains the most pressing concern.

The small tiger population in the two parks have already suffered from past poaching. Scientists believe poachers may have killed as many as seven tigers five years ago, while in the last twelve months authorities have confiscated tiger parts in three different operations.

"We hope the awareness of extra camera traps targeting people who encroach on protected areas will deter poachers from trying to kill tigers and their prey animals," said another ZSL conservationist, Sarah Christie.

In 2010 Russia hosted a tiger summit with all 13 tiger range countries. The meeting ended with an ambitious pledged to double the number of wild tigers in the world by 2022. Amur tigers represent around 10 percent of the total wild population. Already three tiger subspecies have vanished forever. Photos.

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has spoken out about the threat from wildlife trafficking, describing it as a global issue requiring a concerted global response. “Wildlife trafficking has serious implications for the security and prosperity of people around the world,” she recently told a packed meeting at the US Department of State. “We need to address wildlife trafficking with partnerships as robust as the criminal networks we seek to dismantle. We need governments, civil society, businesses, scientists and activists to educate people about wildlife trafficking.” Following the Secretary of State’s address, Crawford Allan, North America Director for TRAFFIC - the wildlife trade monitoring network, a partner of IUCN - spoke of his work with TRAFFIC over the past 20 years tackling the global illegal trade in wildlife. He spoke of the alarming recent rise in rhino and elephant poaching to record levels in Africa, mainly to meet demand for horn and ivory in Asia. “The unprecedented surge in wildlife crime reflects a fundamental shift in the structure and operation of the illegal wildlife trade over the past decade,” said Allan. “Wildlife crime is seen as relatively ‘easy money’, providing high returns for relatively little risk, so it is little surprise organized criminal networks are becoming increasingly involved.” “NGOs, such as TRAFFIC, WWF and WildAid can’t tackle such threats alone; we need governments to get involved.” “In this regard, TRAFFIC warmly welcomes today’s strong commitment shown by Secretary of State Clinton, clearly placing the US Government at the forefront of global efforts to deal with the growing menace from organized wildlife crime.” More....

Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent for the Guardian reported, in a further sign of US commitment, Hillary Clinton said she and Barack Obama plan to talk about trafficking of endangered animals at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Phnom Penh next week. “Over the last few years, heavily armed trafficking gangs were overwhelming local authorities, terrorizing village communities and increasingly posed a security threat,” Clinton said. "It is one thing to be worried about the traditional poachers who come in and kill and take a few animals, a few tusks, a few horns, or other animal parts," Clinton told conservationists. "It's something else when you've got helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic weapons, which pose a threat to human life as well as wildlife." “Poachers were crossing national borders at will, stoking concerns among US security officials that the conduits used by the traffickers in Asia and Africa to get their goods to market could also be used to smuggle drugs or arms for terrorist organizations. There is already some evidence to support that connection,” conservationists said.Clinton's directive, for a study looking directly at the impact on US national security from trafficking operations, could prove critical to stamping out the cruel and illegal practices of killing endangered rhinos for their horns or elephants for their tusks. More....

The Obama Administration has vowed renewed commitments to help stem the international trade in wildlife, including the use of U.S. intelligence agencies to track poaching of elephants, rhinos, and other animals in Africa and Asia. Speaking to a group of conservationists and diplomatic leaders on Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said an expanding middle class worldwide has spawned a booming demand for rare species and animal parts that is being supplied by increasingly violent organized gangs and corrupt officials who terrorize communities and overwhelm local law enforcement. “It is one thing to be worried about the traditional poachers who come in and kill and take a few animals, a few tusks, a few horns, or other animal parts,” she said. “It’s something else when you’ve got helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic weapons, which pose a threat to human life as well as wildlife.” In addition to decimating the natural world, Clinton said, this booming trade has dire economic impacts and poses a growing threat to the security of nations worldwide, including U.S. interests. In a series of initiatives, the U.S. will bolster intelligence efforts to track illegal poaching and assess its security impacts, work with other nations to expand and strengthen law enforcement, and increase awareness of the issue. “We want to make buying products from trafficked wildlife [and\ endangered species unacceptable,” Clinton said. “We want friends to tell friends they don’t want friends who ingest, display, or otherwise use products that come from endangered species anywhere in the world.” Video.

Source: Dotearth.blogs.nytimes.comBy Andrew C. RevkinThe Obama administration, and the State Department in particular, face a long list of urgent issues, from Iran’s nuclear weapons program to trade disputes with China. That makes it hard to maintain a focus on the environment, whether the issue is new approaches to climate diplomacy or endangered species. That’s why it was encouraging to see Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton take an hour today at State Department headquarters to stress the importance of stemming the booming illicit global trade in wildlife. She spoke to an audience of ambassadors, government officials, conservationists and scientists, noting that while much of the focus of late has been on Asian markets, the fast-growing middle class around the world – including in the United States – has created a huge market for a wide range of rare species and products derived from them. Shen announced several new initiatives, including having United States intelligence agencies to produce “an assessment of the impact of large-scale wildlife trafficking on our security interests.” (The Times has launched a series on the connection between African poaching and insurgent groups on that continent.)National Geographic has posted a report on the event. During a panel discussion at the event, Cristián Samper, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society, summarized things this way: “We need to protect the source, break the chain and stop demand.” Here’s are excerpts from a transcript of Clinton’s remarks: " [O\ver the past few years wildlife trafficking has become more organized, more lucrative, more widespread, and more dangerous than ever before."As the middle class grows, which we all welcome and support, in many nations items like ivory or rhinoceros horn become symbols of wealth and social status. And so the demand for these goods rises. By some estimates, the black market in wildlife is rivaled in size only by trade in illegal arms and drugs. Today, ivory sells for nearly $1,000 per pound. Rhino horns are literally worth their weight in gold, $30,000 per pound."What’s more, we are increasingly seeing wildlife trafficking has serious implications for the security and prosperity of people around the world. Local populations that depend on wildlife, either for tourism or sustenance, are finding it harder and harder to maintain their livelihoods. Diseases are spreading to new corners of the globe through wildlife that is not properly inspected at border crossings. Park rangers are being killed. And we have good reason to believe that rebel militias are players in a worldwide ivory market worth millions and millions of dollars a year."So yes, I think many of us are here because protecting wildlife is a matter of protecting our planet’s natural beauty. We see it’s a stewardship responsibility for us and this generation and future generations to come. But it is also a national security issue, a public health issue, and an economic security issue that is critical to each and every country represented here." More....

There are 1096 chamois, a type of mountain goat, roaming freely in the High Tatras on the Polish-Slovak border, according to the latest ‘census’.

According to the latest count, this is an all-time record, the previous one - 1075 - having been registered in 1964. The Slovak part of the Tatras is by far bigger than the Polish one and small wonder that the number of chamois in Slovakia is almost four times higher than in Poland. The chamois - the symbol of both the Polish and Slovak Tatra National Park – is under strict protection. A tangible fluctuation in the number of these animals is attributed to avalanches, predation, poaching and an uncontrolled influx of tourists. The twice-yearly counts of the chamois have started in 1954 by the Tatra National Park in Poland. Three years later Slovakia joined the project. Female chamois and their young live in herds of up to 100 individuals whereas adult males tends to live solitarily for most of the year.